SPS Lighting Question

malx

malx

Active member
Hi, Everyone.

So right now on my 20" deep tank I'm running four T5 bulbs (three blues and one purple) as well as two Kessil 360w Tuna Blue lights. I'm going to be getting a good deal on an ATI Sunpower 6 bulb unit and am going to be swapping out my current lighting for that. Since the Sunpower is larger than what I have and I don't have room for the Kessils anymore, I need some suggestions with LED lights to add to my T5 fixture. Currently, I use the Kessils for shimmer. They don't go higher than 25% intensity but I do like the shimmer they provide that gives the tank a really natural looking lighting profile.

So my question: what LED light steps can I get that would provide a white or a white/blue shimmer to compliment my T5s? I was thinking two Reef Brites but I was hoping people here had a less expensive option (I have a peninsula tank so I'd need them both front and back). Anyone have any suggestions?

Let me know,
Joey
 
SPS Lighting Question

What size tank? Front to back?

There are a few cheaper options than the reef brites, but the reef brites are tried and true by some heavy hitters in the industry.

That said - Logan at Reef Breeders has a history of some really nice led fixtures for very nice prices, and they have a new led strip light available. But personally, I use 2 reef brite XHO's on either side of my ati t5 myself. They are powerful and nice looking to boot.
 
If you really like the shimmer from the Kessils, then keep them. Reefbrite will not have the same look - it will discoball with all of the LEDs instead of having the shimmer like a MH does.

If you want it whiter, then they sell whiter Kessils.
 
swk said:
What size tank? Front to back?

There are a few cheaper options than the reef brites, but the reef brites are tried and true by some heavy hitters in the industry.

That said - Logan at Reef Breeders has a history of some really nice led fixtures for very nice prices, and they have a new led strip light available. But personally, I use 2 reef brite XHO's on either side of my ati t5 myself. They are powerful and nice looking to boot.
Click to expand...



36" x 20"

Will take a look.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
jda said:
If you really like the shimmer from the Kessils, then keep them. Reefbrite will not have the same look - it will discoball with all of the LEDs instead of having the shimmer like a MH does.

If you want it whiter, then they sell whiter Kessils.
Click to expand...



After I wrote this post I was also thinking... what if I found two very small MH reflectors instead and mounts them on the left and right sides at a 45 degree angle instead of going with the reef brites.

Here's inside my canopy now:
96a8cfd2ef6624bb849ede2e7038d0fc.jpg



You can see the kessils here:
4f77e515aa7a68ea478e7afdaf5fdb69.jpg


But the ATI fixture would block them so considering of mounting them on the sides at an angle like here:
e1efa36bafa5caf6db8058b48dc471fe.jpg


And here:
50c84337fef3076a7a6e65efd0484bb7.jpg


To shoot light like this way:
88c6d35d5dcc27e474d90f5bc78fde2f.jpg


Make sense?





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You probably know by now that I think that MH is the best of breed lighting for Acropora dominated tanks. T5s are really nice too, but I don't care for the sterile, non-shimmer look, but I would use them in a heartbeat over an LED on the market.

I would highly recommend 150W HQI with 14K Phoenix bulbs on M81 ballasts in between there, but they are not for everybody. They have some smaller sized reflectors for these.

In any case. If you do get the reefbrites, don't sell your Kessils until you are sure that you like the disco-ball look.
 
jda said:
You probably know by now that I think that MH is the best of breed lighting for Acropora dominated tanks. T5s are really nice too, but I don't care for the sterile, non-shimmer look, but I would use them in a heartbeat over an LED on the market.

I would highly recommend 150W HQI with 14K Phoenix bulbs on M81 ballasts in between there, but they are not for everybody. They have some smaller sized reflectors for these.

In any case. If you do get the reefbrites, don't sell your Kessils until you are sure that you like the disco-ball look.
Click to expand...

Because of my limited space I would go with small reflectors but I guess I'm sold on MH now! I love my Kessils, I think they are great, but at the end of the day, I can go old school and get some MH and sell my Kessils.

I'm sold.

Would you mind sending me a list of parts you'd by? Possibly from the BRS site? keep in mind, I need the SMALLEST form factor available. I'm a noob when it comes to MH so I'm assuming the ballast gets mounted away from the light reflector and that could save space? Haalp, lol.
 
jda said:
You probably know by now that I think that MH is the best of breed lighting for Acropora dominated tanks. T5s are really nice too, but I don't care for the sterile, non-shimmer look, but I would use them in a heartbeat over an LED on the market.

I would highly recommend 150W HQI with 14K Phoenix bulbs on M81 ballasts in between there, but they are not for everybody. They have some smaller sized reflectors for these.

In any case. If you do get the reefbrites, don't sell your Kessils until you are sure that you like the disco-ball look.
Click to expand...

I think I could go with two of these
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bimini-sun-double-ended-hqi-metal-halide-reflector-hamilton.html

And the bulbs you recommended.
 
BRS is going to be tough... small is not what MH folks want, so this is a tough assignment and you might have to look a bit. Most want spread with large reflectors. :)

I have this same reflector in 150W. It is small and potent - spread is not as good as a 18" reflector, but what do you expect? 250W is powerful and grows acropora like crazy. More heat and power, though.
http://www.aquacave.com/250w-metal-halide-hqi-parabolic-reflector-with-lens.html

You can get new sockets for it and swap them out, keep looking or use the 250W version. 150W is a great light IMO, especially with the T5s. Great bulb choices here.
http://www.aquacave.com/150w-hqi-metal-halide-socket-pair.html

Hamilton Bimini Sun is also smaller, but more made for open-top tanks.

Hamilton is your best bet for ballasts. The have real HQI ballasts to drive the bulbs right - electronic will fire them, but it is not the same. They have 10' cords so you can mount out of the way. If you are serious, you might lob them a call - they are very helpful.

If you are willing to replace your T5s with some in a new fixture, then a 3' cebu sun can work. They come in all different kinds of configurations with 2x MH and 4x 39W T5s. These are SE MH - 175W is enough along with the T5s, but the best SE bulb is not available in this wattage and you have to go 250W.

Sorry for being all over the place. In the end, just make sure that you get the right ballast for the bulb/wattage and you cannot go wrong. If you decide on a fixture/reflector, then most can recommend bulbs and ballasts, but here is a primer: For 150W or 250W Double Ended, 14K Phoenx on HQI ballasts are best. For 175W SE, 14K Hamilton for whiter and 20K Hamilton for bluer either on Electronic ballasts. For 250W SE, 20K Radium on HQI ballasts. For 400W SE (too much for you), 20K Radium on Regular Magnetic ballasts
 
Robert Hoeck said:
I'd suggest 2 Bimini pendants. The 150 14k's or 250's. Also, maybe 1 250 biinini with your kessils on sides?
Click to expand...



If I'm going MH I'm gunna sell the kessils because of money and also I'm out of plugs. I'll go with the two Biminis. BRS has them on sale. It's meant to be :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
jda said:
BRS is going to be tough... small is not what MH folks want, so this is a tough assignment and you might have to look a bit. Most want spread with large reflectors. :)

I have this same reflector in 150W. It is small and potent - spread is not as good as a 18" reflector, but what do you expect? 250W is powerful and grows acropora like crazy. More heat and power, though.
http://www.aquacave.com/250w-metal-halide-hqi-parabolic-reflector-with-lens.html

You can get new sockets for it and swap them out, keep looking or use the 250W version. 150W is a great light IMO, especially with the T5s. Great bulb choices here.
http://www.aquacave.com/150w-hqi-metal-halide-socket-pair.html

Hamilton Bimini Sun is also smaller, but more made for open-top tanks.

Hamilton is your best bet for ballasts. The have real HQI ballasts to drive the bulbs right - electronic will fire them, but it is not the same. They have 10' cords so you can mount out of the way. If you are serious, you might lob them a call - they are very helpful.

If you are willing to replace your T5s with some in a new fixture, then a 3' cebu sun can work. They come in all different kinds of configurations with 2x MH and 4x 39W T5s. These are SE MH - 175W is enough along with the T5s, but the best SE bulb is not available in this wattage and you have to go 250W.

Sorry for being all over the place. In the end, just make sure that you get the right ballast for the bulb/wattage and you cannot go wrong. If you decide on a fixture/reflector, then most can recommend bulbs and ballasts, but here is a primer: For 150W or 250W Double Ended, 14K Phoenx on HQI ballasts are best. For 175W SE, 14K Hamilton for whiter and 20K Hamilton for bluer either on Electronic ballasts. For 250W SE, 20K Radium on HQI ballasts. For 400W SE (too much for you), 20K Radium on Regular Magnetic ballasts
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for all of these tips! BRS is having a sale on the Bimini but I'm going to look at all of this before I make a choice. Your options are super inexpensive and i'm totally cool with doing some DIY work! Thanks for all of your help!
 
jda said:
BRS is going to be tough... small is not what MH folks want, so this is a tough assignment and you might have to look a bit. Most want spread with large reflectors. :)

I have this same reflector in 150W. It is small and potent - spread is not as good as a 18" reflector, but what do you expect? 250W is powerful and grows acropora like crazy. More heat and power, though.
http://www.aquacave.com/250w-metal-halide-hqi-parabolic-reflector-with-lens.html

You can get new sockets for it and swap them out, keep looking or use the 250W version. 150W is a great light IMO, especially with the T5s. Great bulb choices here.
http://www.aquacave.com/150w-hqi-metal-halide-socket-pair.html

Hamilton Bimini Sun is also smaller, but more made for open-top tanks.

Hamilton is your best bet for ballasts. The have real HQI ballasts to drive the bulbs right - electronic will fire them, but it is not the same. They have 10' cords so you can mount out of the way. If you are serious, you might lob them a call - they are very helpful.

If you are willing to replace your T5s with some in a new fixture, then a 3' cebu sun can work. They come in all different kinds of configurations with 2x MH and 4x 39W T5s. These are SE MH - 175W is enough along with the T5s, but the best SE bulb is not available in this wattage and you have to go 250W.

Sorry for being all over the place. In the end, just make sure that you get the right ballast for the bulb/wattage and you cannot go wrong. If you decide on a fixture/reflector, then most can recommend bulbs and ballasts, but here is a primer: For 150W or 250W Double Ended, 14K Phoenx on HQI ballasts are best. For 175W SE, 14K Hamilton for whiter and 20K Hamilton for bluer either on Electronic ballasts. For 250W SE, 20K Radium on HQI ballasts. For 400W SE (too much for you), 20K Radium on Regular Magnetic ballasts
Click to expand...

Ok so from what I am reading you need Ballasts even with the Bimini Sun reflectors. If that's the case it makes the most sense just to go the DIY route I feel. I'll check out the site you recommended. Can you confirm that I would need Ballasts with the Bimini Sun?
 
Well just to give you a perspective - I run 2 x 250 watt radiums on M80 ballast in lumenarc mini reflectors over a 30 in x 30 in x 18 in tank .
Following jda's advice I lowered my bulbs such that I have now 350 PAR on the sand bed and around 450-475 for my Purple Monster and Oregon Tort which are highest in my tank .

I am a little itchy to move to ATI but somehow I just can't give up on my radiums after reading last 10 year of TOTM threads .

So , if you want to go acros anywhere in your tank and not worry about lights ever ,I would definitely do Halides - more so radium 250 in SE or Phoenix 250 in DE but both on magnetic ballast .

Regards,
Abhishek
 
Last edited:
Biminins need ballasts. M81 for the 150W and M80 for the 250W. I would not do the 250W unless you want to crank it up to 11. The Hamiltons are nice and have nice long cords. The hum a bit (about like a return pump) and can get warm, but you can mount them remotely - I keep mine in the stand since I need the heat and I cannot hear them.

I use 14K Phoenix and 20K Radiums (different tanks) without T5s. I just turn them on/off with light timers. I have nothing against T5s along with MH, but I just would rather burn another MH rather than have the same wattage in T5s. If you want to abandon the T5s for just Haildes, then you will need reflectors that spread better, but this is a bigger jump than what you are doing. Personally, I would use MH and T5 for now and see how that goes and if you feel like jumping up to 2x250W MH on larger reflectors some day, then you will have a good bit of experience and will know what to expect.

The ballasts will put out a bit of heat. The bulbs will put out more. The heat is TOTALLY easy to mitigate, but it does need to be mitigated or you can get in trouble. Just build in some fans into your DIY setup. Here in Colorado, I welcome the heat all but for about three weeks in July when I need to keep my stand doors open - nothing else. If we run the air (which is not often since it gets down into the 50s most night and the attic fan will keep the house cool most of the day), then I don't even need to do keep the doors open. In Missouri where it was high 70s at night with 80+% humidity, it was about three months and I had to use fans and keep the stand doors open. The rest of the time, the heaters work less and the heat is a blessing. I have no idea how this will do in Vegas, which is one reason that I suggested the 150W over the 250W since they make less heat. With the T5s you might only need to run the MH 4-5 hours a day so that will help too. If you turn a fan on as soon as the MH come on, they usually stay plenty cool - if you wait until they get hot, then the cooling can lag.

I was able to keep 30G breeders cool with 400W MH over them with just fans, so you should have no problem with more volume and less wattage.
 
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